Touch Me If You Can
by Eleanore-Rigby
Summary: Kagome and Sesshoumaru meet and both are trying to discover the mystery of each other. She knows he isn't human, but what exactly is he? Why was he so curious about her? SessKag
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- I don't own Inuyasha

--

A lone man walked down the worst part of town. By his intimidating appearance, everybody around him stayed well enough away. He was brooding as he walked, having just come from an experimental appointment. The gathering he had attended had piqued his curiosity as much as could be said for him. His thoughts were rudely interrupted, however, by a loud and boisterous group of "gangsters" gathered across the street.

They were all circled around something, what, he didn't know. He stretched his ears and listened past the obnoxious cheers and hollers and heard a small, feminine whimpering. How low would these humans sink? Entrapping a female of their own species for their own twisted purposes. He needed to put an end to this disgusting folly. He slowly crossed the street and inconspicuously made his way to stand beside the circle. The men noticed him and looked up momentarily. One of them was bold enough to rudely holler, "Keep movin, bozo, there ain't nothin to see here!" which brought forth roars of laughter from the other men. He looked at the back of the girls head, which he could now see. She tried to turn her head to see if this was help that had stopped them, but one of the men's harsh grip on her prevented her from doing that.

"Let her go." he commanded the man that held her. This brought another bout of hysterical laughter, "And what if we don't?" said the man.

"Would you really like to find out?" the loner asked in a low voice. The group of men slowly started to back away and break up in fear as they watched some horror unkown to the girl in their clutches.

The man immediately let go of her arms and held his hands up defensively, backing away.

The girl quickly turned and started walking down the street toward a busy intersection where there would be people; witnesses. He watched as she disappeared around the corner.

He threw one last glare after the delinquents that had started it all and smoothly put his hands in his pockets, walking into the nearest alley. He wanted to beat the lot of them to a bloody pulp for interrupting his thoughts, but his situation didn't recommend it. He would control his temper.

What he didn't know, was that the girl had gone around the corner and stopped at the mouth of one of the many alleys that his led into.

As the girl walked, all she could think about was the events that had just taken place. She was never taking this shortcut again. It was funny actually, she had just gotten back from church. Church wasn't downtown, but the restaraunt where her family ate afterwards was. She wanted to leave early, ended up getting lost, and somehow got herself in the middle of a gangfight all in a half-hour. A pretty exciting evening for a christian goody two-shoes, don't you think?

Her name is Kagome Higurashi and she's the biggest goody two-shoes you will ever meet.

The man that saved her walked slowly into the alley, letting the darkness envelope him. He stopped once or twice to enjoy the wonderful darkness that lifted his spirits. He didn't have the time to stop for long, though. He walked farther into the alley and was about to turn left and head home. He turned to the right, though, when he heard the girl crying in the direction opposite the one he was going.

This man's name is Sesshoumaru Taisho. He's a vampire with an intense coldness about him. He doesn't seem to care about anything, but is very dangerous nonetheless.

At first, he couldn't believe his eyes. He thought this girl would go straight home. _I guess she's not very intelligent, _he thought. Even if she wasn't too smart, she was definitely easy on the eyes. Despite the sobs that racked her body, her head was held high and her tear-stained cheeks were rosy. Her long, wavy, dark brown hair cascaded down her back and curled gracefully over her shoulders. Her taste in clothes was tolerable. Her leaking eyes were the bluest he had ever seen in his many years and he found himself quite enthralled by them. She was petite to say the least, but still pleasantly figured.

In a word, she was beautiful. A traditional, ladylike face. He almost wished he was a normal man, almost.

The girl had caught sight of him walking up and was gathering his appearance at the same time he was taking in hers. He had long, white hair pulled back in a low ponytail that fell past his back. His eye color was the most unfeeling shade of gold as could be found, but his facial features looked like they had been sculpted by an artist. He was very pale, that she could tell even with the lack of light. The little of his body she could see was very toned and muscular but not intimidating and overblown like most guys.

Yeah. He was a good looking guy, truly handsome. She vaguely remembered seeing him in the back of her church that day.

She had never given much thought to vampires before that night. The best-selling books out at the moment were all about vampires, but they were all fiction. The only thing that could have persuaded her to believe was the glimpse of fangs that glinted off the streetlights as he looked at her. Come to think of it, he was exactly how she pictured Edward Cullen to look like, only with long, white hair instead of red. She couldn't stand him staring at her like that from the shadows, so she gathered up every ounce of courage she had. It wasn't like she could run away, so why not bring the danger closer?

"You can come out now." she said. The dark figure straightened his shoulders and walked over to where she stood.

--

Was an original story, but I wanted to try it out here and see the response it got. So how is it? I was going to make it an Inukag but I'm on a Sesskag craze right now, hehe :D

Please review, criticism welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

She watched in anxiety and fright as he slowly approached her. But when he saw her shaking, he surprised her beyond belief. Instead of doing what she thought he was going to do, (whatever that was), he let out a cold laugh that melted her very bones. Her bones rehardened, however, when the streetlights reflected off of perfect, pointed fangs that gave her frightened goosebumps.

He definitely was not human. Lord, she prayed, please protect me tonight. And He did so much more than protect her.

The man kept moving forward, the laughter having been muted into a scowl like before. His eyes were boring into her soul and weaseling their way into her mind, weather she liked it or not.

"You're scared." he said. Their was a twinge of amusement in his voice. The voice itself was buttery smooth and deep, just like his laugh. It sounded like melted chocolate flowing into her ears and committing itself to memory.

"I won't hurt you." he continued, although he didn't sound as if he was sure of it himself. He was still moving towards her very slowly.

She plastered herself against the wall, "Who are you?" she asked feebly. The courage of her first words had disappeared. He stopped about 3 feet away from where she was and leaned against the wall. She turned so that they were both leaning their shoulders against the wall but facing each other. That's not to say she wasn't still on her guard, though.

"So what's a girl like you doing in this part of town?" he asked, curiosity barely evident in his voice, "I'd think you'd be smart enough to at least have someone with you."

Now she had lost most of her fear and was merely irked. She tried to think of a witty reply. When that didn't work, she gave up and settled for the truth as pitiful as it sounded. "I got lost." she said, letting her shoulders droop, which didn't escape the notice of the vampire in front of her. Under his intense gaze she was scared and uncomfortable. She looked up at him. He was looking at her very seriously, as if sizing her up for criticing.

"Hm." he said, "You don't even _look _like you could defend yourself, which explains the tiff back there, hmm?" he raised an eyebrow at her now shocked look. Her eyes had gotten huge and were shining with gratitude, "You're the one who saved me?" she asked.

He nodded once.

"I can't thank you enough," she said, bowing deeply, "I didn't think I was going to make it out of there alive."

He nodded again in acknowlegement. The seconds started ticking by. His mind was full of thoughts like, 'why did I help her, a _human_? Why am I here now, with this _human? _Why am I still talking to this _human?_' It was a vicious cycle. Kagome was just wondering why he was glaring at her with absolutely no emotion in his face but anger that had crept over his eyes.

So she got up from the wall and took a few steps back. She could kick herself with how lame this sounded but, "Well, thank you for saving me earlier, but I really should be home right now. So-"

She was cut off and gasped. She was already there. In about a split second, before she could even finish escaping him, he had picked her up bridal style and set her down at her front door. She passingly remembered hearing a hissing sound when he picked her up and he dropped her more than set her down. She looked around and saw no one but her cat coming around the side of the house to welcome her home. Shaken, but still sane, she prepared herself for the bombardment of questions that would meet her 2 minutes after clearing the threshold.

As she turned the knob she realized a lot of things at once. Vampires did exist. One had brought her home. He knew where she lived. And he was gone.

--

Sessoumaru ran faster and faster. He couldn't believe what had happened. He should have known she was a Christian. He had seen her at church that day. He mentally chastised himself, he had to bring her home, he just_ had _to touch her. The burning sensation in his arms was unbearable. It was like there was fire in his veins instead of absolutely nothing at all. He slowed to a stop in front of the giant home that he and had formerly shared with his so called 'family'. It was as far away from the city limits as citizenship would allow. He would have no choice but to ask his father for some help. There was no way he could possibly treat himself for something this serious, plus it was his arms that were affected so he couldn't use them anyway. He could feel the flames licking away at his shoulders now, and when he looked down, there were burns creeping up his arms, but, no trace of fire.

He and his father weren't on the best of terms. And he had to ask him for help.

There was a blast of wind as the door flew open and Sesshoumaru raced inside, leaving the door to swing shut behind him. He slowly made his way up the grand staircase that met him at the front door. The first room of the house was more like a ball room than a foyer. It was lit with candles and had an amber mood that made you feel like you were in an old photograph. He continued slowly and painfully, and finally made it up to the second floor where he walked laborously over to his father's room. He could hear the turning of pages from inside. He inwardly winced as he knocked, the action somehow making his already inflamed arms combust. Figuratively speaking, of course.

"Come in." a dark voice said.

--

The chapters are short, I know, but I'm working on making them a little lengthier.

Review please! Criticism is more than welcome, as well as praise :D


	3. Chapter 3

Kagome had answered every question her mom and grandfather asked her as truthfully as she could without revealing the whole truth. How would she tell her parents (when she wasn't even allowed to date) that "Yeah, I got into a gangfight, but don't worry, a vampire saved me and brought me home." That's a keeper. Her mom would either laugh at her or never let her out of the house again.

She wasn't going through that for a second time. So she told them that she had encountered some problems, nothing serious, and found her way home just fine with the help of some man that she asked for directions. Nothing out of the ordinary. Her grandfather had huffed and puffed about not letting her out of their sight for a while but Kagome's mother interceded on her behalf. Grandfather was very strict when it came to his only granddaughter, but Kagome knew it was because he loved her.

She finally made it upstairs and slammed the door. Getting ready for bed, she went through the events of the day, lingering on specific parts. As she got under the covers, she promised herself that she would never take that route to get home ever again.

And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get that vampire out of her head, no matter how hard the pillow was slammed against her fore head.

--

Sesshoumaru's arms were bandaged from shoulder to wrist (the burns had started out small, but spread across his arms).

His father said, "I will never know how you got yourself into this, but if you ever mutilate yourself like this again, you will be staked and burned. Do I make myself clear?".

Sesshoumaru defiantly nodded once, never making eye contact. This was the only communication he would give his father. He stalked out of the room the second the bandaging was finished. His father had asked plenty of questions (mirroring Kgome's family at that exact moment) but got no answers from Sesshoumaru, which he took no notice of. He was being his cold, uncaring self which was the usual for him, and his father was used to it.

One thing didn't escape his father's notice, though. When he asked very sternly for him to stay out of trouble like this and not get burned again, Sesshoumaru stayed silent and didn't even nod. This wasn't good. When Sesshoumaru showed an interest in something, he would stop at nothing and trample over everybody in his path until that curiosity was satisfied.

His father was going to have to do some research and probing to find out what had captured _the_ Sesshoumaru, lord of the western vampire clan's special attention.

--

That night, when she eventually fell asleep, Kagome had a very strange dream.

In the dream, she was a swan on some sort of water. She had a long, graceful, white neck, feathers and a beak. She moved her feet. She had webbed toes too! After this discovery, she decided to look around her and find out where she was. All around her there was a thin mist that seemed to sparkle. She was on a river, she guessed, with lilypads and water flowers everywhere. She looked ahead of her and saw a forest. Not just any forest, but an enchanted forest. It couldn't be anything else, because at that exact moment, a giant, guardian-like centaur leapt into the clearing and turned toward her. It respectfully bowed its head and waited for a return greeting. She did her best with her new swan neck and the centaur looked satisfied. It then lifted its face to look at the sky, gave a long, violently sorrowful yell and galloped back into the safety of the woods. The call had spooked Kagome (since she was now an easily frightened bird) and she flapped her wings spastically to try and fly away, but found she couldn't move. She couldn't do anything but swim. She discovered that there was a shackle around her foot and the chain ran to the bottom of the river. She thought it was odd that she was chained in a river so she decided to investigate. That's when she turned/paddled around and saw a giant castle looming over her.

She wasn't in a river, she was in a moat.

She heard the soft sound of something being dropped into the water, something very light. She looked down and saw bread crumbs had started to drift towards her on the glassy surface. She heard jumbled, hushed voices until one of them was loud enough for her to hear clearly. It said, "Here Kagome, look what we've brought for you!"

She turned her body around to face the direction the voice had come from. She saw there was a drawbrigde, and on the drawbridge, was her mother and grandfather. They were looking at her with sad smiles and she didn't like it one bit. Why didn't they let her go? Why wasn't she human, like them? Maybe they couldn't let her go... She didn't like this. And on top of everthing else, she heard swift, stealthy movements of something creeping in the dark trees of the forest.

She stared as hard as she could into the forest and honked again when she realized what was happening. There were wolves circling the castle. Hundreds of wolves that were abnormally huge. They looked 5 times the size of a normal wolf, and she heard quite a few vicious snarls as they ran. Her grandfather and mother followed her gaze and gasped. They instantly looked toward Kagome, worry plain on their features, but it was clear to her that there was nothing they could do, no matter how much they wanted to.

Kagome watched as the drawbridge was reeled in and she heard the ka-chunk of a medieval deadbolt being locked into place. This was not good. Don't wolves eat birds like her? She couldn't remember at the moment, but she was pretty sure wolves would eat anything, and she just happened to be anything at that moment. She sighed in relief though, when she heard the pack run off and disappear behind the boundaries of the forest.

She felt completely safe, until she heard a hungry snarl come from around the west wall of the castle. She froze where she floated. The stalking footsteps of a hungry wolf started to come closer and closer until she was trembling with fear. As the feral animal rounded the corner, she honked yet again (in her mind she was still gasping), the wolf was snowy, silvery white with cold, golden eyes. It looked at her with a haughty disdain in it's eyes. She almost snorted in amusement at the proud look on it's face.

She trembled, trying to paddle away as fast as she could, but it was no use. It crept closer still, until it came to the edge of the moat, where it stopped and looked at her hungrily with those strangely familiar eyes. She suddenly remembered she was safe in the water and stuck her tongue out at the wolf (which she found she could still do, even as a swan). It rolled back in her beak though, when the wolf took a large paw and placed it in the ankle deep water. He saw it was safe, and proceeded to place all four paws in the water. She froze in fear as it slowly inched toward her, looking ravenous. When he could walk no further, he started to dog paddle, his large tongue hanging out and dragging in the water.

She tried to fly away but remembered her restraining device. Why did her family do this to her? But they had looked so worried before they left. Maybe they didn't, maybe it was somebody else that had trapped her. She honked and flapped, trying to escape while the wolf moved even closer. It never occured to her to swim away, probably because she was almost completely frozen with fear and couldn't think properly. Thats when the wolf looked at her very strangely as some emotion flashed momentarily across his face. Suddenly, he took a dive into the deep water of the moat. This was almost more frightening than having him in front of her because now she couldn't see where he was.

She honked again when she felt humongous jaws around her foot. He started thrashing about and she thought he was trying to take her leg off. For a moment the thought crossed her mind that he was breaking her up into pieces instead of eating her whole. She heard a muffled crack that had to have been loud to be heard from underwater, and was sure her leg was broken with the pain coming any second. But when she moved the leg, his teeth were no longer there. There was no pain. And there was no shackle.

He hadn't hurt her at all. But he had freed her from her prison! She flapped her wings and found she could now lift herself out of the moat. She flapped harder and harder, and flew higher and higher. Before she had entirely cleared the castle, she looked back and saw the wolf who was now on dry land and munching on what she would have assumed was her foot before she flew away. He was looking after her with wistful eyes and a fish between his paws.

Little did she know, her vampire friend was having the same dream, from the perspective of a wolf. The wolf was watching a beautiful swan fly away, and it had had the most familiar blue eyes. He knew he had seen those eyes before, but where, he just couldn't put his finger on. He wished it would stay. But why? Why did he wish it would stay? He was going to eat it a few minutes ago before it's eyes had looked so familiar. After that, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Why had he set it free, when it just flew away from him as soon as she could. He probably frightened it, he thought bitterly.

He usually liked it when he frightened something, it was another assurance of his power and intimidating person, but, for some reason, not this time.

He woke up from the dream, suddenly realizing where he had seen those eyes before. They belonged to the weak human he had spared earlier that day, the one who inflicted the burns upon his arms. This cannot end well, he thought.


	4. Chapter 4

Just as she was flying away from the castle, in complete bliss, Kagome woke up. In another house and a different place, just as he was watching the swan fly away, in unbearable sadness, Sesshoumaru opened his eyes. They had more in common then they thought.

Kagome kept her eyes closed for another five minutes, like she always did. Her clock said 6:22. Just enough time to shower, get dressed, then wait outside for her ride. Today was a school day and she was not going to be late on a Monday. She dragged her sleepy self out of bed and managed to run into several doorknobs on the way to the bathroom. She turned on her ipod speakers and chose a song. She was feeling particularly groggy today, so she chose 'I Don't Love You' by My Chemical Romance. It was a pretty song, but still really sad.

She turned on the shower and stepped inside, singing along with the music.

--

Sesshoumaru was going through a similar routine, only with no music and alot less clumsiness. Vampires shower too, along with other normal human things. As he dried himself off, he contemplated the dream and what it meant. There was no doubt in his mind that the swan was that girl from the day before, the question was, why?

--

Kagome stepped out of the shower and grabbed her favorite towel. She too was thinking about who the wolf was and why he was in her head. Why did he set her free? All those thoughts crossed her mind while she was drying off and getting dressed. She wore uniforms at her school so she didn't have to waste any time on figuring out what to wear. Her uniform was the classic catholic schoolgirl plaid skirt. It was black, white, and red. Black and white being the dominant colors. They wore white blouses and little, girly red and black ties with a black coat. It was actually kind of cute until you thought of it as a uniform.

Now, on to the makeup! Tackling her face was always the hardest part of the morning, even though she didn't wear that much, only powder and mascara.

But Sesshoumaru didn't think about his face much. After he got out of the shower, he looked in the mirror, pulled his hair back with a hair-tie, and changed into some different clothes. And that was it for his routine.

--

Kagome had gotten a ride to school and was thinking about the dream and what it meant. And because of this, she was distracted all through the first half of her classes. She was distracted up until P.E. where she needed all the brainpower she could muster to not die. She hated P.E.

They were playing basketball that day and she absolutely hated it with every fiber of her being. Now, the school usually held mass in the gym, so there were crosses everywhere. They ranged in size from wall-hangers to taking up most of the stage.

She was concentrating on getting the ball into the hoop when all of the girls started whispering to each other, giggling every once in a while. Shelly looked behind her, making sure her shorts weren't shoved up her rear end with a red stain on the back or something. She rubbed her nose against her sleeve for stray bats in the cave. Nothing was there either time. Then she shot the ball and watched as it went in, surprised no one had tried to block her. She smiled triumphantly as it bounced on the floor back to her and then stiffened in surprise at someone talking to her suddenly.

"Well done." a deep voice rumbled from behind her.

She turned around and her mouth fell open. Standing there, looking right at her with that same unfeeling stare was her vampire.

She almost thought she saw the corners of his mouth turn up slightly, as if in amusement. Wondering what could be so funny, she quickly checked her gawking and straightened her face out.

He bowed his head in greeting, "I don't believe I've introduced myself properly," he said, "My name is Sesshoumaru." He held out his hand to her, but she was concentrating on breathing. His voice was just as sweet and deep as the last time she had heard it. She managed to say, "I- I'm Kagome." And shook his hand with as much dignity as she could muster. She noticed that he was wearing long sleeves and gloves, despite it being september, and very warm. But what surprised her the most was the warmth she felt from his large hands behind the gloves. Weren't vampires supposed to be cold and dead? The one in front of her was warm and very much alive as far as she could tell.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, asking in a way that wanted to know how he could be there, more than why.

A graceful eyebrow arched up, "So you remember me." he said. Kagome could have sworn he was smiling as she looked into his eyes, but when she looked at his mouth, it was still set in a scowl.

The two had talked for the remainder of the gym period. Of course it was under the watchful eye of the coach, who didn't fully trust this handsome stranger, despite his visitor badge. Kagome thanked Sesshoumaru again for saving her and he accepted her thanks graciously before changing the subject to her school. With that reminder, Kagome asked again what he was doing there.

She was surprised to learn that he was looking into a teaching job there. Kagome eyed him skeptically, which made him curious as to what she was thinking. She asked him eventually, how on earth that could be possible.

"This religon fascinates me." Sesshoumaru had said, looking curiously around the room, his eyes resting on the stage full of crosses.

"Really?" she asked, "What, in particular, fascinates you?" she looked at him curiously.

That was a good question and Sesshoumaru was pleased to find that she did have a brain. However, he answered her carefully, sure to not use words like apostolic, or catechism, as well as omphaloskepsis, which is part of the website he used to explore this thing called Scripture.

"The whole idea of promised eternity, which I find absolutley absurd, and how a man could die for a multitude of people who would majorly come to hate him." he explained, "How could anything so far-fetched be real? A savior killed by his own people, it's absolutely pathetic."

"I disagree." Kagome looked at him seriously, "The first humans sinned, and the punishement for this sin is death. He died so we wouldn't have to. He was the sacrifice in our place. I don't find that so hard to believe."

Her eyes shined with determination and faith. He couldn't argue this point with her, but he could use bigger words, he thought. "Nevertheless," he said, "my curiosity is piqued by people such as yourself, who fully believe this fairy-tail."

"Call it what you will, I won't argue with you." she said with a laugh, "I'm glad you're curiosity is piqued and I hope you get all the answers you're looking for. Good luck with the job."

"Oh, I already have it." he confirmed a little smugly. Kagome raised her eyebrows at him, "Well then, congratulations." she said.

He nodded once in acknowlegdement. She started walking away but stopped to turn around to bid him farewell, "I have to go change, you have to stay here, or go where ever else you need to."

He was surprised and ashamed to find that he had unconsciously started walking with her as soon as she took her first step away from him. How on earth did that happen?

He nodded again and looked on as she told him goodbye and walked toward the locker rooms. He swiftly turned around and walked in the opposite direction, going out the double doors and sitting on a bench outside. He put a hand under his chin in contemplation and thought deeply about his conversation. She was not the normal human he was used to encountering, she spoke intelligently and carefully, with real meaning in her words.

He was constantly pulling himself out of those blue eyes that she turned on him at the most inconvenient moments.

Kagome would have been thinking along the same lines if she had not been ambushed as soon as she got inside the locker room. All the girls wanted to know who the hot guy was and why he was there talking to _her. _

She laughed and told them he had helped her out with directions the other day and happened to be getting a teaching job here. This last bit of information caused a few leaps of joy and even more excited squeals. They had all talked about his hotness until the bell rang and they all left, now in their uniforms, to go to their respective classes.

Sesshoumaru was still brooding when alot of catholic schoolgirls started to pour out of the gym. It didn't really bother him that much until he saw a certain junior in highschool wearing that uniform. He suddenly felt uncomfortable and didn't know whether to stare or look away and be embarrassed. He ended up staring at her while thinking about what he should do. His face, throughout the whole ordeal, remained an ice mask of indifference.

Much to his dislike, Kagome noticed his staring as her eyes were drawn to the man with the white hair and dark sweater sitting on the bench. She smiled and arched an eyebrow questioningly. Waving at him, she walked over to him when he nodded. She loved the stares people gave her, loving how nobody expected her to know this stranger.

"So what do you teach anyway?" she asked jokingly.

He looked at her stoically, "History," he replied, "I have been here for quite some time."

She giggled, the sound making him feel confident and optimistic. Why, he didn't want to find out. He was curious about one thing though, she hadn't mentioned the saints once, or told her to pray to a certain saint for luck. That's what his new boss had told him to do. He cut back to their conversation from before.

"What about the saints," he asked her, "and Mary, you haven't mentioned them once." he observed to her. She picked up quickly.

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not Catholic, I don't worship anyone but God. I think it's wrong to pray to anyone else."

Again, an intelligent answer. "Why, then, do you attend a Catholic school?" he asked.

"Christian education, parents, the normal reasons." she replied and looked at her watch. He inwardly smiled as her eyes widened. She looked up quickly and informed him she was going to be late before taking off across the now empty breezeway.

He looked around to make sure he was alone and then chuckled darkly to himself. She was keeping him entertained longer than he planned.

--

Okie dokie, what do you think? It's a little deep, but I'm not preaching to anybody lol it's a fascinating subject that deserves some debate.

I am in fact a Christian and go to a Catholic school, where I hate religon class. I thought it would be an intersting twist, Idk.

It might be a little while longer before the next chapter comes out, but i'll do my best!

until then, please leave lots of encouraging reviews!

Criticism is welcome also! (No religon flames, if you're offended, don't read it)

Review please! :D


	5. Chapter 5

The school day passed uneventfully after gym class. Kagome was interrogated all day as rumors of the hot new teacher spread around the school. All day, though, Kagome could only think of the paintings she wanted to start when she got home. Her vampire friends was a great source of inspiration with his unusual looks. She decided in one of her classes to stop at an art store before she went home.

Sesshoumaru spent the rest of his day touring the school. When the bells would ring, he would look for Kagome, and when he would find her, he would start walking in the opposite direction before she caught sight of him. All the girls stared at him. It was getting uncomfortable.

--

Kagome strolled lazily down the aisles of the supply store. She looked at her buggy, it was almost full. All she needed now was some gold paint the color of those eyes. She stopped in front of the paint isle and wheeled into it. Her buggy came to a halt in front of the oil-based paints. She looked on the shelves. Nothing even came close. There was yellow-gold, bronze-gold, blue-gold, red-gold, orange-gold, and even metallic-gold, but none of them were the gold that she wanted.

This was going to be tougher than she thought. She rubbed her chin contemplatively and scanned the paint shelf. Reaching up, she began to take different colors to mix later for that one perfect shade of gold.

Oranges, yellows, browns, reds, blues, purples, and greens, they all came off the shelves. The gold shelf was now completely empty. This store was going to have to go through a major sacrifice in the paint department to satisfy Kagome's needs. Her buggy was completely full now and any hope she might have had of having change for her money was gone. She sighed in defeat. Oh well, it was her money anyway so it wasn't like she was going to get in trouble for wasting her parents money. She wheeled the cart to the check out lane and smiled at the clerk. The clerk smiled back and asked about her day. Kagome said it was going pretty slow, but she'd make it.

Kagome put the items on the conveyer belt and the clerk scanned them onto the register. Their teamwork was inspiring. Finally, all of her purchases were in bags and she could make her way out of the store. She tried desperately to keep her eyes locked ahead of her and not look around. You see, it was leaving this particular store that always posed a difficulty to her. She always happened to glance around and see something on her way out, something she HAD to get, or make, or put together, or she would die. And then, after giving in and buying this extra wooden chair, watercolor set, birdhouse setup, or whatever it might be that time, she would start to walk out and repeat the process all over again. She is a creature of habit and habits don't easily break.

This time, it was a make-your-own-rocking-horse kit.

She sighed and felt the extra baggage being dumped onto the rest of it. She almost dropped it all when she went through the automatic doors. After she almost fell, she fell.

A pair of eyes had been waiting for her as she came out of the store, her arms laden with art supplies. They watched her every move. Everything she did, from dropping her entire load of bags to falling as she bent to pick them up, these eyes caught it all. They laughed a little, too. They figured this girl was kinda clumsy. These eyes saw all, but they didn't know all. What was she planning to do with all that paint, they wondered.

Well, they were going to find out. Of course, Kagome knows nothing about the eyes that are currently committing her to memory. She just walks along with her bags and tries not to trip again. The eyes followed her all the way to her front door and watched through a nearby window as she walked to the kitchen to greet her mom and what was assumed to be the grandfather. Hmmm, the eyes thought, they seem like decent, respectable guardians.

The eyes jumped up to the second story window to watch Kagome in her room. She started getting undressed, so they ducked down under the windowsil and blushed for a few minutes. After a while, they were finally able to look up over the edge and peer into the room again. The eyes took everything in very slowly, trying to remember for later purposes. They observed desk and workspace on the left side of the room. To the right, there was a dresser. The wall facing the eyes held a closet with folding doors. Right below the window they were watching from, was the bed, and on the bed was a canvass propped up on the lap of the girl they were watching. She had changed into shorts and a sweater. Her back was to them so the eyes could see what she was painting. The eyes widened in surprise when they saw what was forming under her paintbrush. They were staring at an exact copy of themselves. She was painting _them_! As she progressed, it was like they were looking into a mirror.The eyes watched intently and interestedly at her working form and watched as the portrait became more detailed and an outline took form. The eyes didn't feel like they were looking into a mirror quite so much now. Not because of her drawing skills, no, those were flawless. It was a different person she was drawing and the eyes were pleased at who they saw.

Why was she painting this, they wondered. How did she remember the features so clearly? This was a mystery they wanted to solve. But first, they decided to continue watching the fascinating art of painting for a while longer.

--

Kagome awoke the next morning to the face of her vampire friend. She had fallen asleep painting and the canvas had ended up on top of her face somehow. She stretched, yawned, moaned, and groaned, sitting up in bed. She held the canvas up to her face.

"Good morning", she said cheerily to the painting. Her eyes roamed over the art to see just how far she had gotten the night before and how much more needed to be done before it was finished. As she made her assessment, she sighed in frustration and relief. The good news was that all she had left to do was the eye color. The bad news was, that all she had left to do was the eye color. She groaned. It was going to take hours to mix and experiment with all those paints to get the perfect color. It might take days.

She squared her shoulders in defiance, this was the challenge she had been waiting for! All those dinky little gift-works she did for friends or out of boredom got old and way too easy. You need something to keep your senses sharp and your skills at their peak level. This was a beautiful challenge for her and conquer it she would!

All the while, the eyes watched her. Eyes that were the color she was looking for.

--

review please!


	6. Chapter 6

History wasn't exactly Kagome's favorite subject anymore. Not only could she not concentrate on the things that fascinated her, the person who was teaching them was very partial to picking on her _every day_.

She started doodling on the margin of her paper, having finished the notes on the overhead projector. Her pen hadn't even drawn two circles when a voice interrupted it's progress.

"Miss Higurashi, pay attention!" the voice said. She looked up and cocked an annoyed eyebrow at her new teacher. He hated her. He was trying to make her favorite subject miserable. It wouldn't work though, she thought, she wasn't about to let him win.

Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, just couldn't stand not having her attention for any part of the 55 minutes that was allowed him.

She was intelligent and interested in what he was saying, while the other students, mostly girls, just stared at him through hazy eyes, not interested at all. He couldn't stand it when she did anything but do what he had assigned her to do. He admitted passingly that he hadn't been talking and hadn't put the next notes up yet, so there wasn't really anything for her to pay attention too. Yet she had the audacity to give him that aggravated look. Him, a teacher!

Yes, she still intrigued him. He was pleased every time he looked at her eyes and practically saw her thoughts connect and piece together some event in history as he talked. Of the entire class, she always caught on the fastest. It wasn't only her, but her religon that still intrigued him. He found himself telling her to stay after class more and more, since his was the period before lunch break. She would always offer some of her lunch to him and he usually declined.

She didn't seem to mind staying with him all through lunch. He once found a sudden conscience within himself and asked her if he was keeping her from her friends. She shook her head and smiled, saying she enjoyed this much more than talking with her circle of girlfriends. He didn't know whether he believed her or not. All highschool girls must want to be with their peers, and yet this one would rather talk to a history teacher. Granted, a very good-looking history teacher, but he knew she didn't see any of his looks. That was another thing that intrigued him.

This was his third month of teaching and he enjoyed making her squirm in her desk so much, that he found himself favoring this time of day above all else. Snapping back to the new set of notes on the overhead, he proceeded to explain them in depth. He wasn't a boring lecturer by any means, good thing for the students, and they all enjoyed his history class, whether they paid attention or not. Today they were talking about Theodore Roosevelt and how his 'Great White Fleet' had docked here in Japan to a very welcoming population.

Ah, he remembered it like it was yesterday. The fleet had been a grand sight, nothing like it had ever been done. He had actually personally met Teddy in Europe after his African safari proceeding his presidency. Just like the history books said, he had been a loud and boisterous ball of energy. He greatly respected the man, a pioneer in his own right, and took the chance to talk about his interesting life.

"Theodore Roosevelt coined a phrase that the press grabbed onto and ran off with. What was it?" he asked. Teddy had coined many phrases, he just wanted to see which ones the students knew or could remember. He didn't have to look to know the hand that raised. It wasn't Kagome, it was a snivelling little brown-noser named Hojo. Sesshoumaru inwardly sighed, "Who knows, besides Hojo?"

When no hands were raised, he took this glorious opportunity to call upon his favorite victim, "Miss Higurashi?" he called her.

She raised her eyes to meet his and he didn't miss the spark of humor in them, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." she answered with a slight smirk. His eyes reflected her own amusement and he told her that she was, indeed, correct. It was the exact phrase he himself had been thinking of. He went on to explain the meaning of this phrase and how the president used and lived by it.

As he talked, something he had forgotten to tell the class worked it's way to the front of his mind, and he looked at the clock to see if he had time enough to explain it.

He had a good twenty minutes, so he informed the class that they could finish what they were writing and put away their materials. The class atmosphere lifted at the surprise early pack-up and Kagome gave him a funny look. He just raised an eyebrow at her as if to say, 'I know something you do not.'

"I have just been informed that the Close-Up program is offering this school a chance for a group of students to join in their activities. He waited, and then the hands shot up in curiosity.

"What's Close-Up?" a young lady asked from the back. He nodded toward her, "I'm glad you asked that, Miss Yuka. Close-Up is a program that allows you to see the inner-workings of democracy. That being said, if you wish to go, you will be travelling to America." he had a look of satisfaction as gasps and cheers filled the room. The rest of the hands went down, their question having been answered.

"You will be able to see many different monuments and landmarks, as well as meet some prominent government officials." he could pick out exactly what the students were saying to each other, what landmarks they wanted to see, and what museums they wanted to visit.

"Who would like to attend?" he asked. To his surprise, very few hands were raised. He was pleased to note that Kagome was one of those few, with her hand shyly raised. That was how she raised her hand, by resting her elbow on the desk and spreading her fingers out.

He was careful to take her name down last, of the four that raised their hands. After the role was taken, another hand shot up to ask a question. He nodded toward it in acknowledgement. The hand asked it's question, "Who will be our chaperones?" it asked.

Sesshoumaru hesitated, "Your chaperones will be Mr. Ichiro.." he hesitated again, "..and myself." his mind cringed at the delighted feminine squeals that suddenly filled the room. As the female students announced their sudden interest in attending, he heard a quiet giggle. His eyes snapped up and he caught Miss Higurashi barely stifling her quiet laugh as the girls around her swooned over him.

"Miss Higurashi," he began, looking back down to his list of names, "will you please see me after class?" The corners of his mouth twitched upward as he heard her exaggerated groan and the whispers of the students that he must not like her very much. Some even guessed that she was failing, which she most certainly was not.

He heard the class talk amongst themselves, always keeping a tab on the one who was quiet. She only seemed to talk when someone spoke to her directly, yet he had seen her outside of the classroom, the very picture of vivacity. Thankfully, they had never met in any dark alleys since that fateful night.

He pretended to grade papers as he mulled over his past three months as a teacher. It had been most enjoyable in his opinion. This highschool junior was possibly the only source of stimulating conversation he had had in quite a few centuries.

The bell eventually rung and Kagome walked up to his desk with her schoolbag on, knowing full well what he planned to say. He didn't look up from his papers and told her, "You may have a seat, Miss Higurashi."

She sighed again in mock frustration and plopped down on the nearest desk in front of his. She reached inside her schoolbag and pulled out her usual small bag of granola things and a bottle of water. She seemed to vary more with her drinks; some days she would have tea, others she would have water.

As usual, she offered an odd oat cluster to the teacher, who politely declined it. He didn't need human food, and she knew it as well, she just didn't want to be impolite.

"Can I ask you something?" an airy voice broke the silence, the question getting a grunt of approval from him. She continued, "Do you take pleasure in torturing me every day?" she asked bluntly.

"Do you find it amusing that your femal counterparts have an obsession with me?" he retorted, still marking the test papers. Her laugh brought his face to look up at hers. She was giggling at his reply. He cocked an eyebrow at her, "I guess that's the answer to my question." he said.

She waved her hand about near her head, still laughing, "It's just so funny to think that you are the target of all the drool monkeys in the school!"

"Drool monkeys?" he questioned disinterstedly. She looked at him, smiling still, and clarified, "The groupies that are obviously in love you, and drool as they stare."

"It's sickening." he said disgustedly, earning another laugh from Kagome. "You got that right." she agreed.

"So what do you eat anyway?" she asked curiously. He started to stack his papers and put them away, "I take supplements most of the time, like all vampires do." he replied, "You see, until we find a mate, we never drink anothers blood. It's the mate that will forever supply us and we in turn, supply our mate. Having only fed off of one individual builds a stronger bond than one would realize." he finished.

She took another granola bite out of the bag, "I didn't know it worked like that." she said and then continued conversationally, "Did you ever meet Theodore Roosevelt?", knowing that he probably had. He nodded and answered, "I saw the fleet land on Japan's shores. I met him personally when he was meeting his family in Europe. He is exactly as they describe him."

"Wow..." she breathed in amazement, trying to picture the vampire shaking hands with the great president. He chuckled, seeing the scene as it would play in her mind.

"So what are you holding me in for this time?" she asked him. He folded his hands under his chin and gave her his full attention, "I thought the look that you gave me after calling on you was extremely disrespectful."

"I can't help it, Sesshou, you drive me nuts!" she shrugged exasperatedly, using the nickname she had given him. He kept reminding her that he was Mr. Taisho, and she called him that during class. It was outside of class that she had trouble remembering to address him respectfully.

"Hn." was all he replied, but she was starting to get used to his monosyllabic answers.

They sat in comfortable silence as she munched quietly on her lunch and he watched her. He suddenly asked her, "Do you ever pray the Hail Mary?"

"No." she answered promptly, having long gotten used to the religous questions he shot out at her. He asked another, "Do you believe in purgatory?"

"Nope." she answered again. He wanted her to elaborate, "Why?" he asked.

"Because," she started, "Jesus died for our sins. Catholics believe that purgatory is where we go to pay for our sins. Jesus already paid for our sins for us, so we don't have to go through that. If you go to purgatory, Jesus' death is pointless."

"You have a good point." he agreed and then asked, "How on earth are you so quiet in class when you have so many strong opinions?"

She smiled at him, "I was taught to grit my teeth and bear it, that the teacher is the absolute authority and, though I don't have to believe what they say, I have to respect them and behave myself. Plus I don't have the guts to do something like voice my opinions outloud." she shook her head as if to clear that image from her mind, smiling ruefully.

"Why are you so scared of the classroom?" he asked. He needed to unlock the secrets of this enigma.

"I guess it's just not my favorite place in the world." she answered simply. He wanted more, "Why?"

"Well, when I was in elementary school, I kind of got teased." she told him sheepishly. He looked at her for a second. A strange anger burned in Sesshoumaru's stomach that he was very familiar with- the urge to kill, to kill whoever so dared to mock this creature in front of him.

"For voicing your opinions?" he asked, outraged, though his countenance would never show it. She shook her head, "No, I was just teased."

"But for what?" he questioned her. She shrugged again, "Beats me."

This was even more shocking. His brow furrowed in confusion and he gave up the ghost. She giggled. He eventually let her return to her friends, as he needed to plan for the upcoming trip the America. It would be set for December- January, around the nation's Christmas holidays. He would have to ask Kagome about this religous holiday. She was an excellent source of information on the few things he knew nothing of.

He would take the parent-teacher meeting as an opportunity to introduce himself to her parents. He wondered what kind of people they were.

"Good God, Sesshoumaru, what on earth are you doing?" asked a dreadfully familiar voice. Sesshoumaru visibly cringed as he slowly turned his head to look in the doorway of his classroom.

"I'm on my lunch break. Leave." he said coldly.

The voice barked out a boisterous laugh, "Come now, my boy, surely you can show more respect to your own father."

"No." he replied rather childishly.

His father would have none of avoiding the inevitable, and so, burst out with the obvious question, "Well, now son, who was the young woman that you have allowed to grace your presence." It was a slightly mocking question, filled with curiosity and poking fun between a father and son.

"She is none of your concern." he answered.

"Nonsense! If you show a particular interest in any other living thing, it is of my concern."

The father of Sesshoumaru was a burly man with grey hair that fell to the small of his back, even in the high ponytail it was held in. He was dressed in slacks and a coat and made himself comfortable in the desk Kagome had previously sat in.

Sesshoumaru wanted to growl out his disapproval of his fathers choice of seats but held himself back. He wasn't sure where he stood and he didn't want his father deciding anything for him in that department.

"You know I don't take interest in humans." he confirmed.

"So, imagine my surprise when I find you working here as a teacher. Actually talking to a student willingly, no less." his father observed, "In fact, that's the most talkative I've ever heard you, Sesshoumaru."

"You eavesdropped on me?"

"Yes." the man answered. Sesshoumaru was about to voice a string of profanities that the great Inutaisho deserved to hear at the moment when there was a soft knock at the door. Both men looked up, and, to Sesshoumaru's dismay, there stood the very subject of their conversation, looking very sheepish.

"Yes?" Sesshoumaru asked sharply, noticing the gleam in his fathers eyes as she walked inside the room.

"I forgot my book." she answered with quiet dignity as she pointed to the desk where Inutaisho sat. He looked down, following her finger and saw a small paperback book lying there. He picked it up and casually opened it; it wasn't bookmarked anywhere.

"This is a good book," he commented, handing it to her. She agreed and thanked him for grabbing it for her before turning to leave. She was stopped by Inutaisho's questions, that were polite, only she was too nervous to answer them normally.

Sesshoumaru knew her well enough to know that she was a bit skiddish around new people. He watched her closely, ready to step in should his father go to far.

"What part are you on?" Inutaisho asked. She looked at him nervously, "Mr. Darcy is confessing his love to Elizabeth in her sitting room." she answered.

"Ah, that's a very good part." he nodded, "I must say though, I am very partial to their verbal sparring in other chapters."

"That's what makes it such a great book." Kagome agreed again, smiling widely now. Inutaisho smiled at the girl. She suddenly remembered her manners and confidence and bowed before offering her hand, "I'm Kagome, it's nice to meet you."

He took her hand in his gloved one and shook it welcomingly, overjoyed that she had warmed up to him so quickly, "You can call me Inutaisho," he introduced himself, "I'm this humbug's father." he nodded toward Sesshoumaru, who sat seething at his desk. When she giggled, Inutaisho looked apprehensively at his grouchy son, who surprisingly just crossed his arms and looked at her angrily where he would have normally gone into a torrent of rage.

She responded with a slight smile, humor dancing in her eyes, "He is a humbug." she agreed. Inutaisho laughed heartily and Kagome soon joined in.

Then, she thanked him again, bid both of the men goodbye, and left the way she came.

"She's very fetching, quite a catch you have there Sesshoumaru." Inutaisho gave his approval to his son's choice in women.

"She is a student, Father, and nothing more."

"She is much more than that and you and I both know it." he argued, "There is an intelligent soul inside that young body, and it's every bit as warm and engaging as you are cold and distant. She's exactly what you need. You, my friend, resemble Mr. Darcy in more ways then one, and you may have found your Elizabeth Bennet."

Inutaisho stood up and walked to the door before turning and regarding his son.

"Don't compare me to fictional characters." his son said coldly, "And I don't need you to tell me that she's intelligent, she proves it herself."

"It's amazing, the intrigue stirred by a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman." he said, quoting Kagome's book before nodding and making his exit.

"Indeed." Sesshoumaru said thoughtfully, once he was alone.

--

Review please!


	7. Chapter 7

The parent-teacher meeting would start in a half-hour. It was Friday evening and about a month before the big trip. Sesshoumaru straightened his tie and cleared his throat. He was in the classroom neighboring his with a few other teachers. They were watching as a few girls looked after some of their offspring. One of the girls in particular, he watched very closely.

Kagome had a gift for children, he discovered. Something about her made every child drop whatever or whoever held their attention and go straight to her, and she would always welcome them with a smile and a hug. He watched as she sat down on a blanket that had been set out, next to her friend, who was holding a toddler that could barely walk. The toddler looked perfectly content to play with his current friend, and then he turned his wide eyes to Kagome, who clapped and held out her hands with a smile. The toddler immediately smiled from ear to ear and crawled straight to her lap.

She laughed and picked him up, standing him on her knees so that she could play with him and leave rasberries on his pugdy belly, earning delighted shrieks and squeals.

The girl that had been previously playing with the child got up and walked over to Sesshoumaru to sit in front of him. She casually asked lots of questions about the history class because she was 'interested'. Sesshoumaru answered all the questions he had, turning to Kagome in between every one.

As he watched her, he couldn't help but think of the future, when she would have toddlers of her own to love. His thoughts wandered to who their father would be, and he quickly stopped himself. No need to give his father any more goading in that area.

By now, the parents were slowly starting to trickle in to leave their young ones in the care of the students, and Sesshoumaru stood and moved to the room nextdoor. As he surveyed the parents, he tried to pick out a man and a woman who bore a resemblance to Miss Higurashi, but didn't see any. He did, however, see a very ornery looking old man that sent glares in his direction every so often.

He gathered that he had enough of the parents there to start the meeting, so he called everyone to order. He began with the travelling rules, basic stuff. After notes were taken and examples given, he moved on to what was expected of the students behavoir. Just as he was getting ready to delve into the trip itself, a very flustered woman quietly burst into the room and bowed apologetically to him and the other parents before hurriedly seating herself beside the old man. Her scarf and outercoat were still on from the outside November chill in the air.

There was something vaguely familiar about her as she smiled briefly to the old man.

The meeting continued with no more interruptions, and went fairly smoothly. The old man and scarved woman gave him the most peculiar stares, he noted. The woman looked at him in curious awe, while the man eyed him with suspicious questioning.

He adjourned the meeting very quickly and sat down at his desk once the parents had left. He could still hear the gurgle of children from the other room, so he guessed that some of the teachers had not yet taken their leave. Curious to see if Kagome was still there, he stood up and walked to the neighboring classroom. As he entered the doorway, he was greeted by a very pleasant sight. There was his best pupil, cooeing softly to that same small toddler, now looking very sleepy on her chest. His cheek squished against her shoulder and his thumb was making its way to his mouth. He buried his nose in her neck and looked very comfortable to Sesshoumaru.

She rubbed his back soothingly and hummed an unfamiliar lullaby to him. In between humming, she would speak to him in a low voice, 'You're sleepy, aren't you? You look soooo tired. Why don't you go to sleep?'

She noticed the history teacher standing in the doorway and smiled broadly at him, her own eyes drooping. He started to smile back, something he never did, when he caught the presence of another person in the room. He turned his head slowly and found the scarved woman from before regarding him curiously.

He blinked at her before Kagome broke the silence, "Mr. Taisho, this is my mom, Mrs. Higurashi."

A silver eyebrow cocked up at the 'Mr. Taisho' address, but was lowered as Mrs. Higurashi stood to shake his hand. "My daughter's told me so much about you!" she exclaimed, it seemed she was still out of breath from her earlier rush, "I'm so glad I finally get to meet you in person!"

"The pleasure is all mine." he replied with considerably less enthusiasm. He turned his head as the baby whimpered in his sleep. Kagome turned her face and kissed his curly head and he was soon deeply asleep again. Her eyes returned to their position from before, he noted, which had been closed. The girl was exhausted.

"The poor dear." her mother commented. He gauged the exact moment Kagome fell asleep, when her breathing became slow and even.

The mother and teacher sat down in the chairs that had been set up near the door and watched the sleeping girl contentedly.

"So, Mr. Taisho, how old are you?" Mrs. Higurashi asked conversationally. He responded, "Twenty."

"Hmm, you're only three years older than Kagome."

"Yes." he answered detachedly, before remembering that this was Kagome's family, and kept the conversation up, "The elderly man that was with you, was Kagome's father..?" he asked.

A look of amusement crossed the woman's face and she laughed, "Oh heaven's no, that was Kagome's Grandfather, my dad."

"Your husband couldn't make it?" he guessed.

She shook her head sadly, the traces of amusement greatly diminished, "No, her father passed away some time ago."

Sesshoumaru kept his cold countenance, "I'm sorry." he replied politely, "She doesn't bear much of a resemblance does she?"

Mrs. Higurashi would have been taken aback by the abrupt rudeness of such a comment, had Kagome not warned her of her teacher's personality.

She quickly recovered, "Not to me or her grandfather, no." she said, "Kagome is her father's spitting image. I can't find any feature on her face that she recieved from me."

"She has your smile." he said simply, causing her mother to look up at him a little differently. He started to regret paying her the indirect compliment when a mischevious glint entered the mother's eyes.

One thing could not be pushed from his mind, however, and Sesshoumaru took this opportunity to ask the one person who would know, "Mrs. Higurashi," he began, "Was Kagome ever teased as a child?"

A worried look flashed across her face, "Why, is there something wrong? Is she disruptive in class?" she asked with furrowed eyebrows.

He was quick to reassure her, "Not at all, in fact, she doesn't say a word unless I call on her." _Which I do, very often._

The worried look was replaced with a sad smile, and the woman shook her head, "So, she's still like that."

"_Still_ like that?" Sesshoumaru pressed.

"In elementary school, Kagome was an outcast, really. She didn't have many friends. Everyone around her was manipulated to stay away."

"Why would somebody do that to her?" he asked. This was very hard to hear, and even harder, now that he knew why she hadn't wanted to tell him herself. His regard for her increased at this view of her. She didn't want pity and yet she yearned to share with someone her hellish experiences. He had sensed it when the subject was brought up, she had wanted him to find away around her denial and refusal to answer questions. He would do just that next time. He listened as her mother continued.

"Kagome was a bright, loving, outgoing child. But there was one little girl who took her in dislike. I'll never know why she did it, but she will never be in my good graces again, though Kagome's already forgiven her."

He sighed and shook his head, that was so like her; to forgive and forget the immense hurt that someone had dealt her. It was more than he could say for himself; whoever the girl was, he wanted to make her pay for what she had done, however small the action.

Mrs. Higurashi continued, "I never knew what she was going through. She never told me. Later, I found out that she didn't say anything, because she thought that what she was enduring was the elementary school experience; that it was _normal._"

"What did she have to endure?" he asked in a low voice, feeling the rage build up inside of him as he looked at the girl in the rocking chair.

"No matter what she said or did, it was made fun of, and classified as wierd. To be seen with her was elementary social suicide. This other little girl managed to control everyone around her and made them stay away from Kagome and make fun of her the same way she did. Everybody refused to talk to her and when they did, it made her miserable." she sighed, "That does something to a person's mind. Kagome slowly became very shy and afraid of the smallest things. Her confidence was shattered, and, tired of the constant ridicule, she stopped talking altogether at school."

He looked at her for a few seconds and then she went on, "She didn't change one bit at home, so I never guessed what was going on at school." she looked at her sleeping daughter, "She's never been quite the same since."

Sesshoumaru thought about the child that Mrs. Higurashi described. A child that was bright, loving, and outgoing. That child had been in his classroom at lunch everyday for the past four months. That child was sleeping in a rocking chair in front of them at that moment, not a child really, but a woman.

He saw that vivacity in her every day, she hadn't lost it. And yet, a mother knows when her child isn't the same. Still, he couldn't help but wonder.

He had also seen her in the classroom, and interacting with her peers, there was, indeed, a sense of something being held back, some sort of fear. He noticed it now that he knew the reason for it. No wonder she got angry with him for calling on her, she was terrified!

Her mother shook her head again, "I still can't figure out how someone could do that to Kagome, I mean, look at her," she motioned toward the sleeping girl who looked very much like a young mother, "What's not to love?"

"What, indeed." Sesshoumaru said for his own ears only.

This particular moment, looking at her with such a peaceful expression on her face, he knew his fate was sealed. That familiar feeling was welling up from deep within him and it had been making itself known on more than one occasion in the past. How did he let it get this far, he wondered to himself.

At that moment, the mother of the toddler walked quickly into the room and looked around, apologizing for being so late. She noticed Sesshoumaru and bowed and gave him a look that asked him where her child was.

He nodded toward the rocking chair on the other side of the room and the woman promptly went to retrieve her child. As she picked him up, he woke with a whimper and grabbed onto Kagome's hair and shirt. This was when Kagome woke up and smiled at the upset baby, detaching his small hands and giving them a gentle squeeze. The baby yawned and was content with the goodbye. The mother thanked Kagome and took her leave, nodding to Sesshoumaru and the other woman before disappearing out the door.

His eyes traveled back to the girl and found her smiling sleepily at her mother and himself. She yawned one of those dramatic, amusing yawns he had grown accustomed to over their lunches together and stretched. She stood up and turned around to pick up the chair she had been sitting in.

"Mama, would you mind folding that blanket? I have to bring this back to the office." she told her mother as she started to hobble out into the hallway. Her mother began folding the large blanket and Sesshoumaru went outside to follow Kagome after bidding her mother farewell, and informing her that his intention was to unlock the door and carry the chair for Kagome, nothing untoward.

As he walked up behind her, she set the chair down and looked at it for a second. She didn't sense his presence, so Sesshoumaru decided to observe her. He watched as she started pushing the chair in front of her like a stroller and almost smiled when it scraped loudly against the tile flooring, causing Kagome to cringe. She sighed and picked it up again, resuming her pitiful hobbling.

She gasped when the chair was lifted from her grasp and looked up into Sesshoumaru's amused face. "Thanks, Sesshou." she said smilingly. He nodded acknowledgment and began walking to the office. Even though she didn't need to anymore, Kagome went with him, silently following behind. She seemed nervous about something.

"Sesshou?"

"Hn?"

"My mother wants to know if you can come to lunch with us, after church, this Sunday. She recognized you from the last time you went." she quickly added.

He stopped and set the rocking chair down, pulling out his key to unlock the office door. As he unlocked it and opened the door, Kagome walked past him.

He picked up the chair and walked in after her, "I would be honored to have lunch with you and your family." he said, accepting the invitation. Her beaming smile was the most satisfying gift he had recieved in his life.

"So where would you like to eat?" she asked, humor in her tired eyes. He was glad she hadn't forgotten that he never had to eat.

"I have no preferance." he said nonchalantly, but Kagome could see the amusement in his eyes. She grinned up at him.

"Alright then, Potatoe Kitchen it is!" she said and patted his hand that rested on top of the chair he had set down. If Sesshoumaru had been a normal man, the action would have caused him to stop breathing for a while. Since he was not a normal man, he stopped breathing anyway, but for a different reason than mere attraction.

He stared down at his hand with wide eyes as the skin started to burn. As she turned around to say goodbye she stopped short and looked at him worriedly. His face was strained, which Kagome knew meant something was wrong. These past months had taught her how to gauge his facial expressions and interpret them. This seemingly glacial look was actually a face contorted in pain.

She rushed back to him and put her hand on top of his, "What's wrong Sesshoumaru?" she asked worriedly. His eyes widened a fraction and he yanked his hand away.

That was when she heard it, that hissing sound, of something burning rapidly. Sesshoumaru was breathing heavily and trying to control himself. Kagome took a step toward him and then another when he didn't move away. He desperately tried to keep her from realizing what she had done. But she wasn't even afraid of the red seeping into his normally golden eyes. He looked at her, suddenly realizing how close she was and held his hand farther out of sight. She was careful not to touch him as she quickly grabbed the long sleeve of his shirt and pulled his hand so that she could see it.

On the back of his hand, there was a terrible burn. The skin was blistering and, was it getting bigger? She looked up at him panickedly and asked, "What happened?"

He looked at her with strained composure in his eyes as the burn mauled his skin, but didn't answer. Her guilt would have been to much for him to bear. _Damn it, _he thought, of all the days to forget his gloves.

Kagome looked back to his hand and suddenly realized that the burn was the spot where she had patted him before she had walked away.

She looked at it in disbelief, still holding onto his sleeve, "_Did I do this_?" she asked frantically.

She looked up and saw the control slipping on his contorted face. She gasped, his eyes were now solid red. He took his hand away again, the skin still blistering with every passing second. His eyes narrowed to slits, trying to ward off the unbearable pain. A torrent of fire was storming inside him, and the only evidence of it on the outside was his mouth that was drawn into a thin line.

"Go." he ordered. She started to shake her head, but stopped when he bared his teeth ever so slightly and gave a quiet snarl, "Leave." he hissed through clenched teeth, "Please."

Kagome looked at him with the guilt he had wanted to protect her from, as well as incredible sadness. He wanted so badly to call her back and tell her that it wasn't her fault. He stood there shaking with anger and pain until he was sure that Kagome was well on her way home. He chose that moment to let out a painful yell of anger, frustration, and guilt of his own.

He burst out of the school building and started to run as fast as he could. He had to get to his house to stop the progression before it got too far, like last time.

Kagome rode home and was silent in the car. She was thankful that her mother attributed it to her exhaustion from earlier, but she knew full well that she wasn't going to get any sleep that night. She still couldn't get the hissing sound to stop and all she could think of was that she had hurt him. She had hurt _him._

She now knew why he never touched anybody, least of all her. She knew why his father had worn thick gloves when he shook her hand.

What about when they first met? He had carried her home, had she hurt him then, too?

_Yes_, she wailed inwardly, the hissing sound was still clear in her memory.

--

Whoa, I think this is the most drama I've ever allowed to happen...

I kind of like it... hehe.

Anyway, review please, and I hope you liked it!


	8. Chapter 8

Kagome didn't get much sleep at all, just as she guessed she wouldn't. She was up all night thinking about Sesshoumaru and what had happened. A million questions rolled around in her brain, some more frequently than others. What did he think of her now? What had he thought of her before? What did she think of him?

As she woke up from her restless, sleepless state, she looked at her window and saw that it was still dark outside.

She was too confused to even think about getting up before noon. Maybe, she thought, it would make the day past faster if she just slept through it. But the next day was Sunday, and he would be meeting them for lunch! She didn't want tomorrow to come and at the same time, she couldn't wait for it.

She was so scared he would still be angry with her. Maybe he wouldn't even show up, and give some excuse about having papers to grade for the following Monday.

What must he think of her, she thought again. She couldn't bear to see him again, and yet she had to fight the urge to run down to the school to see if he was there now.

She rolled over in her bed, pulling the blankets over her shoulders to keep warm, and lifted her head to look at the alarm clock. It was only 3:45 am. How was she going to make it through the day? She yawned and tried her best to lose herself to the unconsciousness that had been evading her for most of the night.

She got her wish and sleep fell over her like a blanket.

When she returned to the world of the living, the sun was up and shining, completely contradicting Kagome's groggy mood. She looked at her clock and it said 8:00. She groaned and flopped onto her back, she had only been asleep for four hours! Since she didn't hope for any more sleep at all, Kagome got up and got dressed in the comfiest clothes she had. Her favorite sweatpants and lacy shirt. She didn't even bother to put her contacts in and was content with her favorite coke-bottle glasses.

She pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and sat cross legged on the bedroom floor in front of her canvasses. She had started quite a few other paintings since that first one, and was doing very well on all of them. Nobody had seen them yet, except for her mother.

The first one was the one of just Sesshoumaru's face, the first time she had seen him. The second, propped up on the wall behind it, was of Sesshoumaru the day she had met him in the gym before his teaching job, with his high ponytail and gloves. The third was of him calling on her in the classroom with that evil glint in his eyes. As much as she hated being called on, it was more funny than anything when he did it.

The fourth and final one she had started on the night before, as soon as she got home. She had to do something while she couldn't sleep, so she worked on it for most of the night, thinking of him of course.

In it, was Sesshoumaru as she had left him, standing stiff and rigid with his mouth drawn into a thin line, and his eyes a solid, real red. She perfectly captured the pain and torment in his face that only she could tell was there. She looked at it and sighed, getting up to put some music on. She played the GooGoo Dolls and resumed her sitting position, pulling her latest canvass onto her lap to get a better look and continue working on it.

She painted the clothes he was wearing and the color of his skin. She painted the silvery whiteness of his hair. She painted the darkness of the room that enveloped him as she looked back. She painted her own shadow that was flung across his legs in the light of the open door. She was getting so absorbed in her painting that she almost forgot the true meaning and emotion behind it. Almost.

Every time she looked back to take inventory of her progress, the wave of emotion hit her as she took in the scene all over again. In a way, these pictures were like her journal, recording important moments, or people, in her life.

Sesshoumaru now dominated the entire record. This last picture captured all of her guilt and sadness and anger at herself for not realizing sooner. Not realizing that he didn't touch anybody for a reason. She didn't blame him if he stayed away from her for quite some time, or stopped their lunchtime meetings. Kagome closed her eyes sadly, he had looked angry enough to do much worse than that.

She was shaken out of her reveries by a call from her mother. Glancing at the clock, her gloomy mood lifted a little to find that it was already noon. Time had flown by when she was absorbed in her artwork. She wiped the sweat off her brow and noticed too late that she had red paint on her hand, which had transferred onto her face. Oh well.

She set the painting by her window to dry in the sun and opened her bedroom door to walk downstairs. As she bounded down the stairs with a, "What is it, Ma?" she gasped as she entered the living room. After leaping down the stairs, it took a while to right herself and catch her breath as she stopped short and her eyes widened.

Sesshoumaru returned her shocked gaze with his own cold and amused one. He looked at her with his hands linked together behind him, taking in her appearance. She was quite a sight, from her well-worn sweatpants to the appealingly lacy top, to the red streak across her forehead and the paint covering her hands. He hadn't known she wore glasses.

Kagome just stared at him with a slightly open mouth. _Why was he here?!_ her inner voice screamed. She had been thinking about him all day, feeling guilty as anything, and now, there he was, just standing in her living room with that damned smug expression on his face. She blinked as he gave a slight bow of greeting.

"What are you doing here?" was her only reply.

Her mother intercepted his response, "Kagome, show respect for your teacher." she demanded strictly.

Her eyes returned to Sesshoumaru, "What are you doing here, Mr. Taisho."

He answered her before her mother said anything else about her disrespect, "I have discovered that I cannot make lunch tomorrow, and merely stopped by to see if we could bring it up to today."

"It's a little short notice, don't you think?" she asked as she raised an eyebrow at him. She was bewildered at his calm countenance. Why wasn't he still angry with her?Why was he suddenly in her living room sounding all amused. She wanted to wipe that smirk right off his face. It didn't escape her notice either, that he kept his hand out of her sight at all times.

He looked at her and nodded to her mother on his side, "I have already talked to Mrs. Higurashi about it, and it is settled that, as soon as you're ready, we shall have lunch together."

"Ma.." she complained. Her mother silenced her with a look and Kagome sighed heavily and trugded back up the stairs the way she had come. Sesshoumaru heard the door slam softly. He'd be willing to bet that this was the only temper she ever showed in front of her mother.

"I apologize for my daughter's rudeness." Mrs. Higurashi consoled the teacher, "I expected her to be ecstatic over the change in plans."

Sesshoumaru cocked a brow at her, "Why would she be?"

"She loves your class, you're her favorite teacher!" Mrs. Higurashi said with a confused and concerned look on her face, "I expected her to jump at the chance to spend time with you."

And he couldn't help the swell of pride that fuzzed up his thinking. He looked to the wall momentarily to gather his thoughts and his eyes landed on a very nice painting, successfully pulling his thoughts out of the haze.

There was Mrs. Higurashi holding a baby boy and sitting in a rocking chair. It was very well done, the likeness was incredible.

"Who painted this?" Sesshoumaru asked, pointing at the picture.

Mrs. Higurashi beamed with pride, "Kagome painted that, right after Souta was born." she said, looking at the picture fondly. Just then, said girl appeared on the stairs with a change of clothes and brushed hair. She'd traded the glasses in for her contacts.

"Shall we go?" he asked her, putting a hand on the doorknob and looking at her expectantly. Her mother walked over to hug her goodbye and she looked at them both confusedly, "You're coming with us, mom." she said, none too surely.

"No, sweetheart, I have stuff I need to do here." her mother said, "You go along with Mr. Taisho and have fun."

Kagome was at once grateful for the chance to talk to him alone, and angry at her mother for allowing her to go with him by herself. This was going to be horrible. When he had put his had on the doorknob, it had been gloved, but she could still see the countours of a bandage underneath it. When she looked up at him, his eyes had darkened and he looked angry that she had seen it. A reasonable response to Kagome, he had been nothing but polite for the past fifteen minutes. Now, she found herself walking silently to the car and getting into the passengers seat. She heard him get into the drivers seat and start the engine.

She was not going to be the first one to say something. That would be left to him.

Sesshoumaru had noticed when her eyes fell on his hand and knew she could see the bandage underneath his glove. The drawn, guilty look on her face was enough to set his anger on fire and make him loathe himself for what he was. He had to tell her it was alright now. So that's just what he did.

"It wasn't your fault, you know." he said as they drove from the neighborhood and onto the highway.

"Yes it was." she corrected him quietly. It wrenched his heart that she thought that way. How could anyone like her even remotely hurt somebody on purpose?

"It was not," he said, a little more forcefully, "The fault was entirely mine." This, he was sure of. It was his own stupidity and ignorance that had brought this unfortunate event about.

"How?" she demanded, "How could it possibly have been your fault when you didn't do anything?" she raised her voice, "I'm the one that hurt you!" she turned to face him in her seat. She cursed the tears that were gathering at the corners of her eyes and wiped them away.

He looked at her and turned back to the road, "All of this could have been prevented had I only informed you of the conditions of _what I am_. Had I but worn my gloves, this whole thing could have been avoided!" He couldn't bear to have her face twisted in such as sadness as that. It was almost too much for him to take in.

"I should have figured it out anyway." she said sadly.

"You couldn't have." he told her, "No one could."

She was silent for quite some time. He was surprised when a motion caught his eye. She was bringing her arm across her face to wipe her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" he asked in indifferent alarm.

"I'm not." was her watery reply. She was a horrible liar about these things, and didn't look at him, but looked out the window instead.

Her eyes widened as he pulled the car over abruptly and stopped the engine. They were on the side of the highway at least, so they wouldn't attract too much attention. She didn't turn around, but heard him as he got out of the car and slammed the door behind him. Suddenly he was in front of her, opening the door so there was nothing between them.

More tears welled in her eyes as she saw the look on his face. He just looked so... so _torn._ Like he wanted to reach up and wipe her tears away, but knew that he couldn't.

What wrenched a sob from her was the realization that she wanted him to.

As she looked down and let the tears fall silently after her single sob, Sesshoumaru kneeled down where he was standing.

She looked up to wipe her tears and found him looking down helplessly. He had the edge of her skirt in his long fingers and was just playing with it. It was the only contact that would be possible for them. He raised his eyes to hers and hoped that they conveyed any message he needed to give to her, like how much he wished he could hold her hand and give her comfort.

"Kagome, if you go on thinking that this is your doing, I could never forgive myself." he said, shaking his head.

She sobbed again. The way he said her name made her heart just wring itself out. Did he care that much about what she thought?

"Kagome, know that the fault is not yours." he reassured her, thinking the sob was denial, which it partly was.

"But it feels like it is." she whimpered.

He sighed and looked back down to the edge of her skirt. She wrung her hands together nervously on her lap, trying to keep them from touching his face, which would be absolutely disastrous.

She looked down at him, "What are we going to do, Sesshoumaru?" she asked with a sad smile.

"Something will be done." he confirmed and stood up. With one more heart-breaking look, he shut her door and walked around to his seat. He started the engine and took something out of his coat pocket. He handed the cloth to her, "Dry your tears." he told her.

She took the hankerchief gratefully. Somehow she knew he'd have one. As she dried her tears she took in the smell of it. It smelled good, a strong, light cologne. She wondered if that's what he himself smelled like since she'd never been close enough to try and find out. She pulled down the mirror from the roof of the car and checked herself for any signs of crying. After they had been taken care of, she put the window back up and turned on the radio.

Sesshoumaru watched as her slender fingers turned the dial to find a radio station. He had to force his gaze back to the road eventually and then pulled up to their destination. Kagome looked at the restaurant they were pulling into and smiled weakly. Potatoe Kitchen.

He opened the door for her and she stepped out gracefully, mindful of her skirt and pulling her jacket closer to her. He offered his covered arm to her, but she shied away and walked to the door without being led. He understood why she had declined his arm, but it still bruised him.

Nevertheless, he was determined to be a gentlemen, and opened the door for her as they walked in. When they sat themselves at a table, he pulled her chair out for her before sitting in his own. She loosened her jacket and looked at him, slowly regaining her good humor.

"You know," she said, "This may be the most awkward lunch date I have ever been on."

--

Oh boy, a little more drama! Yay

Thanks for all the reviews I got! My personal favorite- How will they ever be able to make babies if he can't touch her?! Haha, thanks Kouga's older woman :D And to answer a question, I guess Sesshoumaru doesn't get along with his father just because of who he is. I mean, does he ever get along with him? Inutaisho gets along with him fine, and loves bugging him, so maybe that's why... I guess, haha.

Review please!


	9. Chapter 9

Kagome refused to touch him for a while. He would try to offer his arm in escorting her places and she would decline. He would purposely try to brush her fingers when he handed something to her and she would always hold her fingertips just out of reach. It was like he had put a restraining order on her with a minimum of ten feet between them at all times.

He thought long and hard sometimes about the connection between them. He hadn't thought being a teacher would be a problem, until _she_ became one of his students. There were laws against certain situations between a teacher and student and, well, he would just have to work around them.

Kagome, on the other hand, was determined not to cause Sesshoumaru any more trouble. She would not hurt him again. But it seemed like she was doing just that, she sighed inwardly. Everytime she purposely avoided contact with him through his gloved hands she would see the flash of mild hurt that would cross his eyes. So, she figured if he was wearing gloves, it wasn't all that bad.

But if she ever touched his skin again, it wouldn't be good. Therefore, she insisted that he wear longsleeves and gloves at all times he was with her.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru had taken to an unusual past time not long after that first lunch date. Wherever they happened to be, he would sit and she would sit facing him. She would carefully gather his silver-white hair and bring it over his shoulder to her. Always combing her fingers through it, wary of any skin that she could possibly come into contact with.

Slowly, she would seperate the long strands into three sections, and begin braiding them. Lately, he had taken to braiding her hair as well, enjoying the way it felt as his fingers ran through it.

It was during one of these braiding-sessions that Kagome struck up a curious conversation. Sesshoumaru was leaning against the wall of his apartment livingroom with his arm propped up on one knee, watching Kagome braid his silky hair. She began it with a detached comment that clearly hinted at her curiousity.

"Your dad seems pretty important." she began.

"Yes." he had answered, and was amused by the glare she gave him for his nondescript answer. She persisted, "How important is he? What's his role in the clan?" she asked, getting specific.

"He is the former ruler of the Taisho Vampire Clan, as well as several others." he noted, watching her eyes grow wider.

"Yes," he clarified for her, "you are braiding the hair of royalty." he leaned in mockingly.

Her eyes returned to normal size, "Royalty or not, you're just Sesshou." she said. He was pleased to find that she was indeed, very much impressed, despite her denial.

"All first-born royalty are born with a sign of their lineage." he informed her matter-of-factly.

"Really, now?" Kagome said disinterstedly as she continued to braid.

"Would you like to see it?" he asked with an impish smirk. She arched an eyebrow at him and nodded. He leaned his head back again closed his eyes, letting the facade slip away slowly, so that he could hear every part of her reaction.

Kagome watched as Sesshoumaru began to change. Nothing beyond the subtleties changed, but change he did. She watched as his slightly pointed ears became more pronounced and the point became longer. Twin maroon stripes appeared on each cheek, stopping at the front of his face. His eyes were now lined with the same maroon of the stripes and his canine's lengthened and sharpened.

Her favorite change, though, was the elegant, crescent moon that slowly appeared on his forehead, completing the change. She gaped at him, her hands still. A movement caught her eye and she looked down at his hand that was resting on his knee. The nails were long and sharp, just like his teeth, resembling claws.

At her bewildered expression he announced his title, "Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western clans, at your service." he inlined his head and bowed respectfully.

--

Great goodness I needed a lift!

This little snippet was inspired by a picture on by the very talented Sesskag artist YoukaiYume called 'Hair Braiding'. I like the way she depicts Sesshoumaru and you should check out her entire Sesskag gallery, it will make you smile :D

Anyway, I had to fit this in somehow and it worked by itself, so there you go.

Review please!


	10. Chapter 10

Weeks passed by and Sesshoumaru and Kagome became closer with every passing day. There were still rifts with no hope of bridging and many, many boundaries that were not to be crossed. There were also many, many inside jokes between the two of them and it was sometimes hard for Kagome to keep her giggles contained during the class when he let one of those jokes loose.

The close-up trip was now upon them and it was time to leave. It was 4:45 AM and the participants were shivering their goodbyes to parents and huddling together to keep warm. Sesshoumaru was immune to the cold by now and was simply standing by the bus. The only indication that he was even breathing was the steam coming from his mouth at regular intervals. He only busied himself when Kagome arrived, to distract him from monopolizing her company.

Kagome was a morning person when she woke up super-early, before the rest of the world, so she was just cold instead of cold and cranky. They boarded the bus, waving goodbye to doting parents and finally taking off for the airport.

The airport was crowded. It was also loud. Sesshoumaru's eye twitched as he looked at the writhing mass of humanity in front of him. A spurt of laughter made him look down and glare at Kagome.

"Your eye twitched." she told him humorously.

He looked back at the people in front of him with the same terrified stare, "I think I'm in hell." he said.

"It's not that bad." she told him, wheeling her luggage ahead to catch up with her classmates who were getting ahead of her. Sesshoumaru fell back to walk next to his co-chaperone, Mr. Ichiro.

Mr. Ichiro started talking to his fellow teacher, "Miss Higurashi is mature for her age." he said. Sesshoumaru looked at him warily, trying to place the tone of his statement.

The teacher continued, "Talking to her, it is easy to forget that she's only sixteen."

Sesshoumaru said nothing. They continued their walk in a tense silence. Sesshoumaru brooded the entire time. How much did this guy know and how much was he going to keep to himself?

AS it turned out, the airport wasn't as much of a hell as he thought it would be. The program was well organized and things went smoothly. Boarding the plane, croweded as it was, wasn't entirely unpleasant. He watched as everybody excitedly chose seats and arranged themselves sitting next to their friends.

He forced himself not to sit next to her. It was hard, but he did it.

Kagome herself couldn't muster up enough courage to sit next to him. All she wanted was a window seat anyway, so she grabbed the first one she saw. It was right next to the wing of the plane. She sat down and dropped her carry-on backpack at her feet, digging inside it for her travel gear. Her ipod out, her book in hand, and she was ready. She looked at the book again and ended up returning it to her bag. Who was she kidding? Travel was all about the music.

She strapped in her seatbelt and waited. Ten minutes later, the plane was rolling over the blacktop and she could feel the machine pick up speed. She really felt like she was travelling by herself since she didn't know the classmates next to her very well. They had been introduced, but attempts at conversation had failed, so they were very content to keep to themselves.

Mmmm, Kagome thought contentedly, all a person needs to have a nice trip is music and a window. She didn't see why Sesshoumaru thought it was hell. Unless...

Was this his first time flying? There was no way. Then again, he had been sullen and ornery the netire time they were waiting to board the plane. She'd have to ask him about it when they landed in America.

For the time being, she was happy to just sit and listen to music, watching the clouds fly past her window. They way they were all lined up, flowing in the opposite direction, Kagome felt like she was going against the traffic on an air-highway. She went to lean her head on the window to get a better view. And then she sneezed, the force of it sending her head to bang against the window she was headed for.

She hated it when sneezes snuck up on her like that. When she knew it was coming, she could make her sneezes kind of cute. But when she wasn't paying attention, they were obnoxious. And loud. Even through her ipod, she could hear all conversation on the plane come to a sudden stop at the loud boom of a sneeze. She sighed and sunk into her seat as the murmurs started up again.

"Bless you." the girl next to her giggled.

"Thank you." Kagome sniffed and rubbed her nose, before touching her sore head, "Owww.." she groaned.

Thank goodness she hadn't sat next to him. Sesshoumaru would never let her live the sneeze down if he heard it.

The rest of the plane-ride went on, sneeze-free, until a voice came on, warning them of the coming landing and telling all passengers to turn off electronic devices for various unimportant reasons.

Kagome ws always reluctant to turn her music off but she did, and shoved the ipod into her pocket. When they landed, she decided to stand up and stretch out her stiff muscles. Plane rides were always unbelievable uncomfortable, whether you were entertained or not.

Once that was done, she sat back in her seat. Curious as to where the rest of her class was, she peaked over the heardrest of her chair and looked straight into smugly amused golden eyes.

He was sitting right behind her. How dare he smirk like that?

"That was quite a sneeze." he said and raised an eyebrow at her, still smirking.

She scrunched up her nose at him, "It was, wasn't it."

Her row started getting off the plane then, and she stood to make her way to the center aisle. She was acutely aware of the man walking closely behind her. As they left they plane she smiled warmly at at the pilot. A short walk through the suction tube and then they airport opened up before them.

Kagome loved the airport. She loved the hustle and bustle. She loved all the different people going to so many different places. But most of all, she loved the moving sidewalk.

"What on earth are you doing?" Sesshoumaru asked her as she slid her feet backwards on the forward moving sidewalk.

"Moonwalking." she answered seriously. He shook his head in defeat, an amused smile twitching the corners of his mouth.

"You are a strange one." he said, stepping onto solid, unmoving carpet.

"Normal's too boring." she explained.

The class retreived their luggage together and boarded the bus that was waiting to take them to their hotel in Washington D.C. Kagome sat close enough to Sesshoumaru to allow for conversation between them. By his questions, Kagome guessed he had been coming up with them the whole plane ride.

"What does your Bible teach you?" he asked in his familiar, abrupt manner.

"Everything we need to know, but most of it's kind of obvious." she answered with a smile, thinking of a familiar poster entitled 'Everything I need to know, I learned from the Bible'.

"Like what?" he asked.

"Happiness makes you smile." she told him.

"Obvious." he echoed her earlier comment.

"A kind word soothes angry feelings." she said.

"Obvious." he repeated.

"It's better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." she smiled.

Sesshoumaru laughed at this. "I didn't know the Bible could be humorous." he said.

"Oh yeah," Kagome said, "It's got everything. There's anger, war, betrayal, miracles, adultery, murder, power struggles, hate, and Jesus tells the Pharisees off, like, five times." she continued, "The Jesus-Pharisee exchanges are actually my favorite."

"You just love any kind of witty banter, don't you?" he asked.

"That's what makes things intersting", she said mischeviously, "I can't banter to save my life, but it's my favorite thing to read in a story."

A girl sitting in the back of the bus interrupted their conversation with a question, "So, where are we staying at, anyway?" she asked.

"We are going to the Keybridge Marriott Hotel which you will now see to your left, if you look out the window." They all looked and sure enough, there it was. It was a nice hotel, too. They all started talking excitedly amongst themselves, including Kagome and her seat-mate, Sesshoumaru having been cut from the conversation. That doesn't mean he didn't listen, though.

"I hope I brought enough clothes." the girl sitting next to Kagome worried.

"You could always re-wear some things." Kagome offered.

"That's true." the girl said, brightening up a bit.

"And if all else fails," Kagome continued, "you can borrow some of my clothes." she smiled at the girl.

"Thanks, I'll remember that." the girl smiled back.

"I'm going to be in style for this trip," Kagome joked, "Me and mom went shopping." The girl laughed.

Sesshoumaru smiled to himself. Kagome wasn't style-challenged exactly, she just had a style that was entirely her own. She wore what was comfortable and looked nice. He didn't know how she did it, but she made clashing colors work.

"They arrived at the hotel and unloaded the bus. Dragging their luggage to the front entrance, they all looked around at this new place. Sesshoumaru opened the door for the mostly female group, noticing Kagome was the last to come in. She was also the only one to thank him for holding the door.

Then came the messy business of assigning rooms and moving in. After that was done, the students had the rest of the afternoon to explore the hotel. And while they wreaked havoc on the unsuspecting natives, Sesshoumaru would hide under a book in the lobby.

Kagome didn't know what to do with herself. There were so many options. She didn't work well with options. She could go to the lobby and read a book. She could explore on her own. She could daydream to music in her hotel room. Or she could just wander. This is what she decided to do in the long run, and she grabbed her ipod before heading out the door. She put her headphones on in the elevator and looked up at the mirror-ceiling. She put her hands in her pockets as she walked out toward the lobby and came across a hotel gift store/coffee shop. On a far wall in the store, there was everything but the kitchen sink. it was her entire supply of make-up, toilettries, medicine, and then some. Cool.

Bored more than thirsty, she grabbed an interesting looking bottle of juice from the refrigerator next to the everything-wall. She paid for it and then headed to the lobby, where she decided she would sit and watch people and daydream, while listening to her ipod.

She hated being bored.

Sesshoumaru didn't like being bored either, but he dealt with it much better than she did. He had a book, he had a chair, he was good.

About five minutes into Kagome's daydreaming, which somehow turned into a Sesshoumaru special, she looked at the sitting area adjacent to the lobby behind her. And there he sat. her stmach immediately explded into butterflies at seeing him this unexpectedly. He was wearing glasses. What a good-looking dork.

He was intently analyzing whatever he was reading, too. She looked at the familiar cover and title and smiled. Pride and Prejudice. He just couldn't stand not knowing when she talked about the book. Wait a minute.. That was _her_ book he was holding. How did he get it?

She didn't know yet, what kind of freakish abilities vampires had. Did he teleport into her room, unseen, and snatch the book? Did he simply think of it, to have the book appear in his hands *POOF!*.

NO! He got inside her mind and hypnotized her, so she would have no memory of herself bringing the book to him in a drooling, vampire-trance. She huffed in disbelief at his impertinence and disregard for privacy and personal space and belongings. She walked over to where he sat and sat down on the chair opposite him. He looked over his glasses at her and then looked back at what he was reading. Kagome crossed her arms with an attitude.

"Where'd ya get the book?" was her loaded question.

"I was walking behind you while exiting the plane and I took it from your open bag." he said smoothly.

"Oh." she looked down and felt her cheeks getting red from embarrassment at having thought such outlandish things.

"What?" he asked, looking up at her red cheeks.

"Nothing." she quickly answered and put her headphones back in her ears before walking away to explore her hotel room.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry it took so long!

I actually went on close-up myself, for election week, and it was the most fun ive had in years! I'm trying my best to describe the places we went and the experiences we had. Sorry again for the wait!

REview please!


	11. Chapter 11

Kagome blushed all the way back to her hotel room. She was rarely this embarrassed and what made it worse is that she didn't have to be. Sesshoumaru didn't know what she was thinking. But_ she_ did, and it threw her off that she thought some of those things.

Now, she was laying on her bed and soaking in her own embarrassment. After a few minutes of that, she got up and dug around in her bag for her sketchbook. It was her journal, after all, and what was more fun to record than embarrassing experiences? The sound of a pencil on paper filled the empty room as she sketched away her frustration at herself. In between drawings, she would end up doodling geometric shapes in her creative slumps.

The sound of the door opening and people entering made her stop drawing and put her sketchbook away. Her roommates had arrived. One of the girls had blonde hair and she had never seen her before. The second girl had jet black hair and had sat on the same row as Kagome on the plane. The third and final girl had brownish hair and had sat next to Kagome on the bus, worrying about her clothes. Kagome smiled from her seat on the bed and said hello. The three other girls greeted her in return and they were all very soon aquainted with each other.

A knock on the door came, and the girl with the black hair got up to answer it. The others heard her open the door and talk with the person on the other side. When she came back into the room, her eyes were glazed over and her walk was slow. She looked like she was in a daze.

"Who was that?" the blonde girl asked. The black-haired girl sat on the edge of the bed with the others, "It was a teacher telling us it's time for dinner."

"Is that all?" they pressed. The girl stared off into space for a while and then shook her head to clear her thoughts, "He was majorly hot." she said simply, "I think I saw him on the plane over here, but I'm not sure."

A lightbulb went off in Kagome's head, but she decided to keep quiet. No need to have her roommates rabid for information from her about the hot teacher.

The subject passed, the girls freshened their make-up, and they went downstairs to the first floor dining room for dinner. It was a buffet tonight for the hungry jet-laggers. There were tables organized by class, country, and group. Kagome and her roommates seperated to go to their respective tables. She spotted the silver head at one of the tables and went over to claim a seat before getting her food.

Sesshoumaru looked up as she was walking towards the table. She was a welcome sight and a lift from his miserable afternoon. After she had huffed away for some unknown reason, the vultures had descended. They just wouldn't leave him alone. No matter what he did or where he went, they would always find him. Always.

He stared at Kagome, willing her to sit down in the empty seat beside him before a so called 'drool monkey' took it for herself. She looked up, and their eyes locked. She bit her bottom lip embarrassedly before sheepishly pulling out a chair across from him. She took off her jacket and draped it across the back of the chair before going to get her food from the buffet table.

He heard female voices start to come closer and didn't dare turn around to see how many were arguing over the empty chair. She had deserted him in his hour of need. He would not forget this. The voices were upon him now; he was surrounded. He pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned his elbows on the table, where his empty plate sat. Dinners like this were always his least favorite of the functions he had to attend in his human guise. The questions about his lack of appetite were exhausting and made him even more irritated than usual.

He finally heard the victor of the 'battle of the chair' sit down and claim her spoils of war. He turned his eyes and saw that it was one of the head cheerleaders. She was snobby and intimidating, so it was no surprise as to why she won the seat. She asked him a question that he deducted to be yes or no, so he gave her a half-civil nod before ignoring her completely.

It was then that the enemy returned to her seat with a plate full of food. He glared daggers at her as she started eating her meal. They made eye contact and she gave him a confused look saying, "What?"

"Traitor." he accused in a low voice. Kagome looked at him bewilderedly for a second. Then, her eyes turned to the girl sitting happily at his side in the seat that had been empty when she left, and understanding flashed across her face in the form of a smile. She turned back to her food and cheerfully ignored him for a while.

It always made him angry when she did that. He could ignore her but she would not ignore him. He simply would not allow it. So, he started talking to her. Much to the dismay of the girl that had fought so hard for her coveted seat.

Sesshoumaru folded his hands on the table and regarded her cautiously, careful not to let her see his aggravation. "Your book was.. .. interesting." he said.

Her fork stopped halfway to her mouth and she looked at him with wide eyes, "You finished it already?!" she asked incredulously.

"Yes." he said smugly. The fork finished its journey and she took a bite of corn. She still looked wondrous. The rest of the meal was continued without interruption on either side of the table. No one noticed Sesshoumaru casually slip something into his own glass of water before tipping his head back and draining the cup.


End file.
